ServiceNow CIS-Discovery - Certified Implementation Specialist - Discovery

From the Discovery Status record, a Device record in ServiceNow Discovery contains a link to the discovered Configuration Item (CI). This link provides direct access to the CI record that was discovered and processed during the discovery cycle. The Device record does not contain the contents of the CI, a link to the discovered Asset, or a link to the CMDB Health Dashboard.References= ServiceNow Discovery documentation, focusing on the details of Discovery Status records and the information contained within Device records.

In ServiceNow Discovery, most properties related to the Discovery module start with the prefix 'glide.discovery'. This naming convention is part of ServiceNow's system property design, where 'glide' typically indicates system properties and 'discovery' specifies that the property is related to the Discovery module. Properties are used to configure various aspects of the Discovery process, such as behavior, timeouts, and performance settings.

Based on the image, the value assigned to the label “Value” is a concatenation of variables and strings. One of the variables is $name_details[1].exec_info, which indicates that $name_details is a tabular variable, meaning an array or a map that can store multiple values1. The [1] is the index or the key that accesses the element of the tabular variable. The .exec_info is the attribute or the property of the element. Therefore, the choice D is true.

The other choices are not true based on the image. The choice A is false because the image does not show any WMI query operation step. A WMI query operation step is a pattern step that executes a WMI query on a Windows device and returns the results as a tabular variable2. The image does not show any WMI query syntax or result. The choice B is false because there is no scalar variable labeled ‘1’. A scalar variable is a variable that can store only one value1. The image shows a label “Value” but not a variable name. The choice C is false because the value can be used in a pattern step. A pattern step is a unit of logic that performs a specific action during Discovery or Service Mapping3. The value can be used as an input or an output of a pattern step, depending on the context.

In ServiceNow Discovery, the reconciliation process is governed by precedence rules. These rules determine which data source’s information will be retained if there are conflicts when multiple sources discover the same CI. In this case, Altiris has a higher order of precedence (300) compared to ServiceNow (100), as seen in the “Data Source Precedents” section of the image. Therefore, if Altiris discovers ‘Windows2’ for the name attribute on the same CI after ServiceNow sets it to ‘Windows1’, the name will change to ‘Windows2’ due to Altiris’s higher precedence.

To launch any pattern, you need to specify the CI classification and the CI type. The CI classification determines the table where the discovered CI is stored in the CMDB, and the CI type defines the specific attributes and relationships of the CI. For example, if you want to discover a Windows server, you need to select the CI classification as cmdb_ci_win_server and the CI type as Windows Server. These choices are mandatory for any pattern, as they enable Discovery to identify and classify the CIs correctly.

 CI reclassification is the process of changing the class of a CI in the CMDB based on the discovery data. It can be done manually or automatically, depending on the configuration settings. CI reclassification can result in data loss if the new class has fewer or different attributes than the original class, and the existing attribute values are not preserved or mapped to the new class. This can happen when a CI is switched to a different class hierarchy, such as from a Linux Server to a Windows Server, or when a CI is downgraded to a less specific class, such as from a Database to a Software Instance. Therefore, switching and downgrading have a higher chance of leading to lost data during CI reclassification.

The recommended method for excluding specific software from discovery on Windows and Unix Servers in ServiceNow Discovery is by modifying the probes. Probes are the components in ServiceNow that collect data from devices. By modifying the probes, specific software can be excluded from the discovery process. Options A, C, and D are less direct methods for achieving this specific requirement.References= ServiceNow Discovery documentation, particularly in the sections related to probe configuration and modification.